Donald Trump called on Thursday to the “immediate” resignation of the new boss of the American company of semiconductors and Intel processors, one day after a republican senator raised concerns about possible links with Chinese companies, a danger, according to national security.
• Read also: Pour a “dividend” to the Americans: Trump’s mysterious idea
“The Director General of Intel faces a serious conflict of interest and must resign immediately. There is no other solution to this problem, “castigated the American president on his Truth Social platform, while Lip-Bu Tan took the head of Intel in mid-March.
The Senator of Arkansas (Center) Tom Cotton sent a letter to the president of the group, Frank Yeary on Wednesday, in order to express his “concern” concerning possible links between Mr. Tan, who took office last March, and companies which “have links with the Chinese Communist Party and the people’s liberation army”.
“Mr. Tan would control dozens of Chinese companies and hold shares in Chinese companies of semiconductors and advanced industry,” accused Cotton in his letter, “at least eight of these companies would have links with the Chinese army”.
The American senator also pointed out that the former company of Intel boss, Cadence Design Systems, had “pleaded guilty for having illegally sold” products “to the University of the Chinese army and having transferred its technology to a Chinese company without having obtained a license”.
American born in Malaysia, Lip-Bu Tan, 65, began his career in nuclear power before launching his own investment fund, specializing in digital, particularly in Asia.
He took the lead of the specialist in microprocessors and semiconductors last March, while the company, formerly a leader in the field, failed to take the turn of artificial intelligence (AI) in time, now accusing a delay on its competitors such as Nvidia.
Intel finished 2024 with better than expected results, but prospects deemed too low by the market.